Criminy, sorry this was such a slow update! ^^; been working (okay, procrastinating) on The Clumsy Project movie, and am trying to get the first quarter done before may 9th ^^;

Thank you to all my fabulous reviewers, I'm sorry I don't always respond ^^; But I really do read and appreciate your input and lovely comments :D

By the way... This was actually inspired by a song! Anyone who can tell me the song will get a drawing request on my DA :D

(people with FFaccounts only plz ^^;)

Hint#1- It starts with an "S"

(Smurfette)

It had to have been a good five or ten minutes before anysmurf could speak. The news had just smurfed us like a pile of bricks… "How… How could this have happened…?" Papa smurf asked, mainly to himself, "How could something like this have happened…?"

The doctor adjusted her glasses. "You mentioned that your smurflings, Sassette specifically, were directly exposed to the smoke from unfamiliar alchemy chemicals?" She asked.

"Yes… but, what relevance does it have?" Papa asked.

Doctor Nava shifted in her seat and shuffled some papers around. "From what I've studied… Smurfs seem incredibly in tune with nature… such high exposure to artificial materials and toxins in such a way would likely affect most any of you smurfs similarly."

"What about me?" Papa smurf asked. "I work with chemicals and alchemy all day, every day. Yet I show no symptoms similar to Sassette."

Just the thought of Papa smurf sick like Sassette made my heart sink even lower. "Human's alchemy uses different chemicals than, say, smurf's alchemy, or fairy magic, or even Miraguan alchemy." She explained, "Your body is already used to the more natural ingredients than they are to the harsher chemicals in human's spells."

I looked at the smurflings. They seemed to be surgically attached to Sassette now, hugging her and crying, and talking softly to her. They seemed just as scared as she did. "There is good news with all this," the doctor said, "The cancer is only in the limited stage right now… Which means we caught it in time."

Papa smurf breathed a small sigh of relief. Farmer and I smiled slightly. All hope's not lost. Sassette WILL be okay. "This therapy we're going to try, Sassette," Dr. Nava continued, "It's the strongest there is. There's a sixty percent chance that when your cancer goes away, it'll never come back again."

Sassette could barely process what the doctor said. Her voice seemed to be stuck in her throat; the rest of her seemed to be folding in on herself. "Bu' wha' bout th' other forty percent?" Snappy asked the question no one could.

Dr. Nava was very quiet for a moment. "Even with that forty percent chance, this is the strongest therapy we have approved." She rehashed, looking at Sassette, "We're going to take good care of you."

Sassette seemed too numb to speak. To do anything really. She shook herself free from everysmurf's grasp, slid off Papa smurf's knee, and quickly made her way to the door. The smurflings looked at each other and immediately went after her, following her out the door and down the hall. I tried to stand and follow them, but Farmer put his hand on my shoulder. "They need some time 'lone, shugah." He said plainly, "We'll catch up with 'em later."

I nodded a little and sat back down. "I think you will be happy to know that you don't have to stay here." Dr. Nava said, "It would actually be better for her if she was in a familiar environment when she's receiving treatment."

Papa smurf and Dr. Nava started talking about treatment options. I must have looked some kind of desolate, because Farmer put his hand on mine. "Pa' smurf…" Farmer said, his voice broken up, "We're gon' go find th' smurflin's… We'll see ya back at th' palace."

Papa smurf looked up at us and nodded slightly. I had never seen such a saddened look on anysmurf's face… every wrinkle on his face looked deeper than it ever did. His normally cheery, caring expression looked sad and uncertain. It felt like a knife to my heart seeing him so forlorn… Farmer took my hand and led me outside of the oncology ward. Once we were in the hallway, he stopped walking and pulled me into a caring hug. All the tears I had been trying to hold back rushed out as I hugged Farmer tightly. He gently stroked my back and shh-ed me. "It's okay, shugah… Jus' let it out…" he said, his low southern drawl making me feel a little better.

After a minute or two of just plain crying, I started to feel a little better. I sniffled a little and wiped my eyes. "There… Feelin' a lil' better?" he asked, smiling slightly.

I nodded a little, and rested my head on his shoulder. "I—I—I just can't believe it… Poor Sassette..." I cried a little bit more.

Farmer patted my back a little bit. "It'll all smurf out, shugah." He said softly, "Th' docta' said there's treatment, at least. She'll get better."

"How do you know…?" I asked softly.

"Ah don'." He replied, "Ah DO know Sassette's not one t' smurf down without'a fight."

I smiled a little. He's right. Sassette's a fighter. We started walking down the hall to go look for the smurflings. We found them sitting against the wall, a bit further down the hallway. Sassette sat with her knees to her chest, crying softly. Nat held one of her hands and tried to console her. Slouchy sat next to Sassette and whispered his sleepy comforting words in her ear. Snappy sat across from her, not quite sure what to do with himself. Farmer sat next to him. "Sassy…" Farmer said softly, "C'mere, shugah…"

Sassette uncurled herself, let go of Nat's hand and scooted across the hall into Farmer's arms. "F-Farmer…" She whimpered, "I'm scared…"

"Ah know…. Ah know shugah…" Farmer hushed her, "Ah'm scared too… We're all scared…"

Sassette wiped her eyes and snuggled in Farmer's protective embrace. "Bu' these doctors're gon' take good care'a you… they're gon' make you feel better…" he said, trying to comfort her.

The rest of the day seemed to pass like a blur. Papa smurf told us we were going home in the morning. That was the only real thing I actually retained from the day. Sassette and the smurflings didn't speak very much. In fact, Sassette went right back to the room and crawled into bed. She said she was too tired to play. The smurflings didn't want to play very much either. They looked so serious… So scared… No child ought to go through something like this…

The night was long. No, an understatement. It felt like the night would never end. I couldn't sleep. Even though the blankets on the large bed were soft and warm, and the mattress was just incredible, I couldn't get comfortable. I looked to the clock that sat on the nightstand. 5:46. I sighed and sat up. No use trying to sleep now… I slid out from under the covers and walked out to the balcony. The sun was already starting to peek up over the mountaintops. In a few hours, we're going home… How on smurf are we going to break this news to the rest of the smurfs…? Not too long later I heard a knock on the door. I turned my head. There was a quiet click and the door slowly opened. Papa smurf had come in to wake me up for the day. "Ah, Smurfette… You're up early." He said, joining me on the balcony.

"I couldn't sleep…" I replied.

"I see." He said.

He leaned against the railing. Neither of us spoke for a while. "What'd the doctor say yesterday…?" I asked at last.

Papa smurf scratched the back of his head and thought for a moment. "Well," he said, "She told me how to give Sassette's treatment… Three times a week for six weeks."

"Is that all?" I asked.

That didn't sound too terrible. He shook his head. "No… after the first six weeks, there's no treatment for four weeks, and then another six weeks of medicines…Then another cycle after that…" he sighed a little. "How could I have let this happen…?"

"This isn't your fault, Papa smurf." I said, "Until yesterday nobody even knew what cancer was. There was no way you could've known."

Papa smurf buried his face in his hands. "I know, Smurfette." He said, "It feels so wrong to see her so scared… she's a smurfling, for smurf's sake!"

He shook his head as he leaned against the railing. "It just isn't right…"

Before I could respond, there was a light knock on the door. "Come in," I called, "The door's open."

There was a quiet click, and Nat appeared in the doorway. "Papa smurf? Th' guard jus' told us it's breakfast time…" he said.

"Alright, Nat… I'll be right out." He said.

Papa smurf excused himself from my room, and I got dressed for the day. I also packed the rest of my clothes and toiletries so we could leave sooner. I walked out the door, then down the hall to the breakfast hall. The smurflings sat and ate their breakfasts in silence. In fact, most everyone at the breakfast table was silent. With the exception of princess Micha's mindless prattling, breakfast passed without very much conversation.

Once breakfast was over, Papa smurf told us he had to return to the hospital. He didn't tell us why, but I think we all had a general idea. The doctors hadn't given him Sassette's medicine yet. Farmer, the smurflings and I went and got Feathers ready for the return home. Sassette was still uncharacteristically quiet. The boys hadn't left her side since the doctor had told us. They stuck around her, talking to her, trying to keep her mind off the whole ordeal. They were like some kind of a support group to the scared smurfling. Even given the situation, it was honestly very sweet to see.

Papa smurf had returned with the medicine by the time we were finished preparing Feathers. We climbed on her back, and she started flying homeward…

(Slouchy)

It was awhile before we got home. We didn't reach the village until it was almost sundown. When we finally touched ground in the village square, lots of the grown-ups were crowded around waiting for us. Once Feathers let us down on the ground, Sassette put her head down and pushed through the crowd. Snappy elbowed me and Nat. "We'd better follow her." He muttered.

I nodded and started following her. She ran past the bunkhouse, out to the forest. "Sassette!" Nat called to her, "We're not 'lowed outta th' village without a grown up!"

She didn't listen to him. Actually, I think she ran a bit faster. "Sasseettte!" I called, "Wait for uss!"

Sassette slowed down and started coughing a lot. Nat was the first to reach her. "You hickory nut…" he said, holding her up, "Wha'f Gargamel caught you again…?"

"Yeah," I said, "You member wha' happened las' time."

She started to stop coughing. "Gee smurf," Snappy said crabbily, "How come y' smurfed all the way out here, anyway?"

She didn't say anything, but motioned for us to follow her. "Hey, I know where we are," I said, "We're at our secret clubhouse!"

Sassette smiled for the first time in a couple days. "Mm- hmm!" she said, "C'mon, I wanna show you guys somethin' real smurfy!"

She climbed up the unfinished tree house, up to almost the top of the tree. "Hurry up, or you're gon' miss it!" she said.

We climbed up the tree's branches and sat with her. "Okay. Watch right over that way." She said, pointing over towards the sunset and the rest of the forest.

I watched out in that direction. What're we looking for? "What're we lookin' for, Sassette?" Snappy asked.

"You'll see! Just watch!" she shushed him.

In what seemed like a single movement, a thick cloud of multicolored birds exploded from the trees, turning the whole sky into a giant moving rainbow in only a few seconds. They swirled around each other, mixing the colors in the purple and red sky. Then, as quickly as they had all appeared, they separated by their color, and flew away to different parts of the forest. "Woooow!" Snappy marveled, looking awestruck by the odd phenomenon, "What was that? I've never seen so many different-colored birds all at once like that."

Nat piped up "I think it's their migration, or somethin'," he said, "It's almost winter, an' those birds fly at night."

Snappy crossed his arms and pouted a little, "Well, that's jus' weird! How come they fly at night?" he asked, "How'd they even know which way t'go?"

While Nat explained how some birds use the stars to figure out which way is south, I looked back at Sassette. She looked much happier, having seen the birds and stuff. I scooched next to her more. "Feel a lil' better now?" I asked plainly.

She smiled a bit as she looked over at me. "Picky piranhas, Slouchy! I DO feel a lot better…" she said, "An' I'm real happy you guys got t' see this with me. Ain't it jus' th smurfiest?"

I looked back out towards the sunset. "Yeah," I said, "How long've y' known 'bout it?"

She shrugged, "'Bout a month," she said, "They all go off on some kinda trip 'bout every other week. I wanted t' make our clubhouse here so you guys could see it with me."

She smiled again and looked up at the purple sky. "Whallopin' watermelons, Slouchy… Wouldn' it be smurfy t'go on a trip like that?" she thought out loud, "all those other pretty colored birds with ya… Goin' to some neat new place… Smurfaroo, it'd be like some kind'a 'mazing dream…"

I nodded. "Yeah," I said, "That would be pretty smurfy."

"Hey! We should smurf it someday!" Snappy butted in, "Jus' th' four of us. No grown ups!"

Nat smiled real wide. "Yeah!" he said, "We gotta smurf it someday!"

Sassette turned more towards us on the branch and smiled the biggest smile I'd seen in a couple weeks. "We DEFIANTLY hafta!" she said. "Th' four of us. Pinkie Promise on it, guys!"

The four of us linked pinkies. "Now. You guys gotta promise that someday we're gonna take this trip. Got it?" Sassette said, all seriousness in her face.

We nodded, sharing her same solemnity. "We promise."

Then Sassette started coughing again.

(Smurfette)

After Sassette and the smurflings ran off, it started to get dark. I waited and watched for them in Handy's workshop, where he was making a new invention for Sassette. "Handy," I said, "Shouldn't we go find them? It'll be dark soon…"

Handy looked up from his invention and shook his head. "It's alright, Smurfette. They have Nat with 'em. If they do get lost, Nat'll send one of his animal friends." He replied with a reassuring smile.

I sighed a little. "I suppose you're right…" I said, walking away from the window, over to his workbench, "What're you working on, anyways?"

He moved aside a bit to make room for me. "It's an air smurfifier," he said, "It'll purify the air in the smurflings' bunkhouse, maybe keep Sassette from getting any sicker…"

He hung his head a little bit, staring at the unfinished invention on his desk. His grip involuntarily tightened on the screwdriver in his hand. "I… I still can't believe all this's happening…" he said, blankly. "Poor Sassette…"

I nodded in agreement. "I know…" I said, "It' had us all smurfing on eggshells ever since we found out."

Handy blinked a couple times and went back to smurfing the air smurfifier. "I suppose it could always be worse," he said, dryly, "At least we found out 'bout it before it could get any worse."

"Mmhmm…" I said, "The doctors said it can be treated, and they have her on their strongest medicines. And at least she's home, surrounded by smurfs that care about her, instead of some unsmurfy hospital room."

Handy smiled a little, still focusing his attention to his invention. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a small commotion not far away from the workshop, in the direction of the forest. "Papa smurrrf!" the scratchy voice of Nat called loudly, his voice laced with desperation. "Papa smurrrrf!"

I immediately feared the worst. I went outside, only to find Sassette coughing into her fist, Nat and Slouchy supporting her weight. Handy immediately dropped his tools on the bench and ran outside to help them. "C'mon, Sassette," he said, picking her up and holding her over his shoulder, "Let's get you t' Papa smurf!"

He ran through the village, the smurflings hot on his trail. I followed them as fast as my high- heeled shoes would let me. It wasn't long before they all reached Papa smurf's lab. Handy went right through the door without knocking. "Papa smurf! Papa smurf!" He called, making Papa smurf drop a potion to the floor in surprise, "Sassette's having another episode!"

Papa smurf immediately smurfed into action. He added a few ingredients to an already- mixed potion, then attached a spray nozzle to the beaker. Handy had placed Sassette on the bed in the corner of the lab, holding one of her hands and speaking gently. He moved aside for Papa smurf. Papa smurf sprayed the potion in her mouth, and after a moment or two, her powerful coughing faded away. She barely got in a word before Papa smurf shushed her, and she fell asleep. I watched as Nat uncurled her tight fist, then suddenly recoiled in shock. "P-P-Papa smurf!" he practically squeaked, "Th-th-there's blood on 'er hand!"

Papa smurf looked pained for a moment, then used a handkerchief to clean Sassette's hand. "It's the cancer, Nat," he said, his voice strained, "she may be coughing blood for a while, until it goes away."

Nat looked away, his face nearly white and tears in his eyes. "Smurfaroo…" Slouchy said, sleepy-sadness outlining his tone. "How long'll it take, b'fore it's gone, Papa smurf?"

Papa smurf sighed a little bit and wiped little flecks of red from Sassette's lips. "I don't know for sure, Slouchy." He confessed, "It may be a long time before it's gone for good."

The smurfling boys shifted uncomfortably. Somewhere in the village, Greedy rang his dinner bell. The boys didn't even flinch. "Go and eat your suppers, my little smurfs," Papa smurf said, taking a seat next to Sassette, "I will stay with Sassette."

The boys reluctantly went out the door and ran to Greedy's mess hall. I cast a glance at Papa smurf and Sassette, then followed them. They finished their dinners practically at smurfspeed, then immediately left for Papa smurf's lab. I wish I had their appetite. I didn't feel hungry for most of my dinner. But of course, I didn't want to offend Greedy, so I did try and clean my plate.

After supper, I brought my dishes to Greedy and hurried to finish the day's chores. It was close to bedtime before I had finished my chores, but I had to check on Sassette before I went to bed. I walked to Papa smurf's lab, then knocked on the door quietly. "Come in," Papa smurf called softly.

I opened the door as quietly as I could. I let myself in and gently shut the door behind me. I looked over at Sassette on the bed. She was still asleep, snoring softly. Not surprisingly, the smurflings had joined her on the bed, Nat leaning against her, Slouchy curled up by her other side, and Snappy leaning on the bed frame by the foot of the bed. "They refused to leave," Papa smurf explained, rubbing his tired eyes.

I nodded in understanding, quietly moving towards them. I smoothed Sassette's hair back behind her ear, and watched her face twitch in dreamy slumber. She looks so peaceful… Could she really be so sick? "You should rest, Papa smurf," I said, looking back at him, "you look awfully tired…"

Papa smurf smiled a little and nodded. "I will, Smurfette," he said, "But first I have to finish preparing Sassette's treatment for tomorrow."

I felt a lump in my throat. I swallowed that lump, then walked over to him, and gave him a hug. "Okay… Goodnight Papa smurf…" I said softly.

"Goodnight, Smurfette." Papa smurf replied, patting me on the back, "Pleasant dreams."

(Slouchy)

When I woke up, we were all still in Papa smurf's lab. Nat and Snappy were still sleeping, but Sassette was awake. She was still under the covers though, cause Nat fell asleep leaning on her, and she probably didn't want to wake him up. "G'mornin' Sassette," I yawned, stretching and sitting up. "How're you feelin'?"

She smiled a little bit. "I feel jus' fine now, Slouchy." She whispered. "Bu' if these two don' wake up we're never gon' get outside!"

I watched as she shook Nat a little. "Wake up!" she said, "It's morning, wake up!"

Nat muttered a little and rolled over so he faced away. She nudged Snappy with her foot under the covers, "Snappyyy!" she almost wined, "get uppp!"

Snappy pouted in his sleep and swatted her foot away. There was a loud creaking noise, and it made all four of us jump. It actually woke Snappy and Nat up! The creaking noises got louder and louder, then I realized what they were. Papa smurf coming down the stairs. He walked from the steps to the bed, "Good morning, my little smurflings," he said tiredly.

"G'mornin' Pappy!" Sassette practically sang.

"How did you all sleep?" He asked.

"We slept great, Papa smurf!" Nat stretched, distractedly watching a butterfly out the window.

"I had the smurfiest dreams las' night, Pappy," Sassette chimed in, smiling and looking up at the ceiling. "So many frogs everywhere!"

Papa smurf smiled a little, seeing her so happy. But he didn't smile for very long. Soon his face was more somber and serious. "Sassette…" he said, "It's time to start treatment…"

Sassette instinctively smurfed her knees to her chest and hugged her legs. Her face looked nervous, uneasy. I patted her knee. "It'll be okay, Sassette." I said, "R'member? I promised."

She smiled a little bit, but kept hugging her knees. Papa smurf went through his medical bag, a very serious look on his face. Once he had all the medicine and stuff for Sassette's treatment, he walked over to us and sat next to the bed. He had a small needle attached to a small, clear tube with little notches in it. Sassette turned her head towards me and shut her eyes. "O—Okay, Pappy…" she said, trying to keep her voice even, "I'm ready…"

Papa smurf took a deep breath and swabbed a small spot on her chest with a cotton ball. As gently and seemingly painlessly as he could, he wiggled the needle under her skin, then taped it in place. "How come it's all th' way up there?" Nat asked, now sitting next to Snappy.

"Because this needle has to stay put for awhile, Nat," Papa smurf explained, sadness in his tired face, "Where it is, it's less likely to smurf out."

Sassette squirmed a little from nervousness. Her hand subconsciously found mine, and she squeezed it out of nerves. I watched as Papa smurf got medicine into a shot from a brownish- yellow bottle, then unscrew the needle from the rest of the shot and leave it in the bottle. He screwed the shot in one of the little notches in the tube, then slowly pushed down on the plunger-thing. "This's the first one…" Papa smurf said softly, "only three more to go."

Sassette bravely sat up a little bit. Papa smurf did the same thing as before, but with a dark green colored bottle. After he'd given her that medicine, Sassette rubbed her tummy a little. "Eww… Gobblin' groupers, my tummy feels kinda icky, Pappy…" she said.

"That's just a side effect of the medicines, my little smurf," Papa smurf said, distractedly getting more medicine from a dark purple colored bottle, "your tummy might feel unsmurfy for a while before it gets used to the medicines."

After he'd given her that medicine, Sassette made a sour face and held her tummy more. "Almost done, my little smurfling," Papa smurf assured her, getting medicine from the last dark blue bottle. "Just one more, and it's all done for today."

He gave her the last medicine, then patted her on the forehead. "There we go, my little smurfling… All done…" he said softly, "You were very brave, Sassette."

Sassette puffed out her chest a little in pride, but was soon coughing into her fist. Nat and Snappy moved up by me and patted her back. I looked at Snappy. For once, he actually looked serious, the scowl on his face giving him an almost protective look. I looked at Nat. He looked guilty and heavy-hearted, cringing at every one of Sassette's little coughs. Sassette's coughing finally started to go away, and she snuggled back in the covers a little bit. From somewhere else in the village, we all heard Greedy ringing the breakfast bell. Sassette didn't even bother trying to get up. "Sassette, perhaps it would be best if you rested here for a while, until your stomach feels better…" Papa smurf said, smoothing her hair.

Sassette nodded a little and snuggled deeper in the blankets. "You guys go'n get breakfast," she said, "I'll jus' wait here."

Snappy pouted in protest, but eventually conceded defeat. Him and Nat started walking out the door. I waved goodbye to Sassette and started following them. "We'll smurf you guys some breakfast later." I said, closing the door behind me.

We didn't talk too much walking to the mess hall. Nat and Snappy didn't even have anything to "discuss" today. Breakfast was pretty quiet too. Come to think of it, Sassette's almost always the one who starts games. I thought, stabbing scrambled egg with my fork, A lot of our conversations, too. No wonder it's so quiet.

After breakfast, Greedy gave us some crackers and stuff for Sassette's tummy, and breakfast for Papa smurf. "I'll make some'a my famous vegetable barley soup for lunch," he told us, "Nothing's better for an upset tummy than Greedy smurf's barley soup!"

We brought the food to Papa smurf's lab, where Sassette was sleeping again. Snappy, Nat and I decided to sit and wait for her to wake up. Then we could all go play. Right?